Monday, July 23, 2012

Daily 5- Chapters 4-6

Whew!!! I'm playing a game of catch up today with our Daily 5 book study!! I decided to just make one post for chapters 4, 5, and 6! There's a TON of information in these chapters!!! Ready, set, go....

Chapter 4- Read to Self

Book boxes are soooooo important to use when implementing read to self. Each child has their very own box of "just right" books! What a fabulous way to instantly differentiate your literacy block! I can see how managing them could be a challenge in the beginning, but my goal would be for my students to take charge over it! I've ordered the plastic magazine file folders below for my book boxes!!! Cute & colorful, plus they will last a long time...*I hope*!!!

Chapter 3 gave such an amazing overview of how to start your "read to self" routine with your sweeties! Being a complete newbie to the Daily 5, I'm going to completely follow their lesson plan ideas and suggestions!! I love the 3 ways to read lesson...How wonderful that the Daily 5 gives students an option to read the pictures! I know this will build confidence and eliminate stress for my students who struggle with reading words.

Chapter 5 - Read to Someone

I would have loved the opportunity to read to someone when I was a little first grader! All of my life, I have enjoyed being able to share and reflect on books with others. I know this Daily 5 choice will be very popular one in my class! My focus at the beginning of the year will be modeling correct behaviors {EEK, voice, check, etc.}. Chapter 6 gives amazing lesson ideas for teaching your students what Reading to Someone is all about! I'm excited to watch my students experience reading to a partner in a variety of ways & the growing readers they'll become because of it!!

Chapter 6- Write to Self

“You don’t learn to write by going through a series of preset writing exercises. You learn to write by grappling with a real subject that truly matters to you.” ~ Ralph Fletcher

Ahhhh, Ralph knows what he is talking about!

I love giving my students choices when they are writing! When you give students a purpose for writing, they are inspired, motivated, and engaged in their work!

Again, I'm in awe of every single lesson the sisters provided in this chapter! WOW!!! The majority of my students get a major case of writer's block when they can't spell a word! I have never made "what to do when you can't spell a word" my first writer's workshop lesson, but can see in every way why it should be!! Seriously, why didn't I think of that?

Word work is already a big part of my literacy block!! YAY!! Something that isn't brand new!!! I have a making words pocket chart center where students make words out of words, as well as a word working shelf full of different manipulatives-stamps, letter tiles, letter magnets, letter beads, etc...Most of my literacy centers provide my kiddos with other activities for working with words, too!

Here's a packet I have on TpT packed with 25 Making Words activities! I've gotten a lot of feedback from buyers about how they enjoy using it for Daily 5 word work!!! I alsomade the printables below to use when introducing my loves to read to self, read to someone, and writing to self!

Graphics {borders} from Scrappin' Doodles Fonts from Kevin & Amanda and Lettering DelightsThey are pretty plain, but I really wanted the students' illustrations & writing to make them cutesy!!! You can get them all *here*!Make sure to link up over at Lory's blog to share what you thought about these chapters!!! Thanks so much for joining our book study!! I've had so much fun reading all the different experiences, ideas, and thoughts! Y'all are a HUGE source of inspiration to me!!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!!! I'm going to be enjoying the last 7 days of my summer before pre-planning begins!!! Most of it will be spent in my classroom getting ready for my new crew!!! haha

Thanks for the printables and hosting this book study. It has really helped me put into perspective something that I have been wanting to do for a while now. Have you heard or do you have any suggestions on how and when the students fill their book boxes?